Technical Safety BC has released a report on an incident between an intoxicated passenger and an amusement park ride. According to the details, the passenger fell from the ride while a 9-year-old attendant was loading and unloading customers.
Technical Safety BC’s Report
The incident occurred on May 31, 2025 in Port Hardy. The amusement park, which has been in service since 2020 under its current ownership, has approximately 36 employees of “varying ages and experience levels.”
The ride that the passenger fell from was called “The Zipper”. The Zipper “consists of a boom typically with twelve compartments (cars) attached.” Each car individually rotates and creates a swinging and rolling motion.
According to the report, “the cause of the incident was the activation of the ride controls with the (compartment) door open and an unrestrained patron still inside.” At the time of the incident, there was one operator and two attendants– one of which was a 9-year-old, who was the witness of the fall.
Reportedly, the pair had already ridden the Zipper multiple times before the incident. They were loaded in spite of their intoxication and were carrying a bottle of alcohol. The injured passenger was described by the young attendant as “half asleep and half awake” and “hammered” by the other attendant.
The Result
The passenger was ultimately ejected to the ground from 6-8 feet in the air and sustained broken bones. The foreman– and father to the young attendant– noted that the “responsibility of the ride is the operator at the controls.”
The operator apparently was “focused on the bucket in the front” and activated the ride by pushing a button. It was pressed for approximately 2-3 seconds. This was without the operator “check[ing] that the second carrying unit was fully unloaded and that the attendant was clear from the area before activating the ride.”
The investigation noted some of the contributing factors in the incident. This includes insufficient training and lack of communication protocols between attendants and operators, as well as the ride’s age and lack of requirements for restraints and ride activation.
For more details on the intoxicated passenger amusement ride incident, check here.
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